300 acts. 70 events. Ten days.
Melbourne Music Week has unveiled its scorching 2019 program, jam-packed with musicians from near and far. In its tenth year, festival organisers are paying homage to a decade of success showcasing the talent that flows through the veins of the city.
Returning to the ten-day spectacular this year will be the fan-favourite Kubik venue. Designed by German organisation Balestra Berlin, this peculiar structure lights up whenever music is played. The iconic venue was first introduced to Melbourne Music Week in 2011 and will pop up in Alexandra Gardens this year. Headlining Kubik this year will be none other than Melbourne dance stalwart CC:Disco! and her joyous Club Coco night. Kubik will also host the unique stylings of French electronic icon Kittin, Jennifer Loveless, Raphael Top-Secret, Andy Stott and more.
On opening night, a massive anniversary party will see more than 100 free performances take over venues across the Melbourne CBD, thanks to the combined powers of the Live Music Safari, art-music show Swell 5.0/Frequency and the Songs of Melbourne busking program.
It’s not all homegrown acts, though, with godfathers of techno Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft making their huge Australian debut this November. Taking over the Melbourne Town Hall, DAF will be joined by local legends Total Control and Dark Water, who may or may not have some fun with the terrific grand organ. Over at the Melbourne Recital Centre, the previously announced Robert Henke will be performing his audiovisual spectacular, Lumière IIIx.
If you’re in the mood for something intellectual, the festival’s talks program will feature free discussions on music, artificial intelligence, sustainability, psychology and cancel culture. Not to mention, a special in-conversation event between DAF and Kittin.
To bookend the festival, the Hamer Hall foyer will open its doors for the closing party, where DJs Roza Terenzi, Luca Lozano and Mr Ho will keep you moving until 4am.
Over ten years, Melbourne Music Week has showcased more than 2,200 acts across 1,000 events. With the State Library of Victoria, St Paul’s Cathedral, ACMI and plenty more venues gearing up to host some huge names, you’d be hard-pressed to avoid the epic celebrations going down later this year.
Melbourne Music Week will be held between Thursday November 14 and Saturday November 23. Tickets go on sale Thursday September 26 via the festival website.
Never miss a story. Sign up to Beat’s newsletter and you’ll be served fresh music, arts, food and culture stories three times a week.
